An increasing number of corporate employees are working, either part-time or full-time, at home to perform tasks associated with their jobs. This practice, known as telecommuting, is increasing in popularity as a result of a number of economical, political, and environmental factors.
A corporation can reduce office space requirements, and hence save money, by sharing desk space among a number of telecommuting employees. If needed, a desk at the office can be reserved for a limited duration by a telecommuting employee. During this limited duration, which may be on the order of hours or days, the telecommuting employee can perform certain tasks which are most amenable with he/she being at the office.
Telecommuting can also help corporations respond to Clean Air Act provisions which limit a number of employee-commuting cars on the road. In certain high-traffic areas, companies can be fined if a certain number of employees do not carpool, use public transportation, or work at home.
To serve the increasing number of telecommuters and their corporations, the need exists for improved telecommunication services to allow telecommuters to communicate with the office and with other telecommuters.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,571, issued to Kay et al. and assigned to Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc., discloses an area-wide centrex service for a telephone communication network. As part of the area-wide centrex service, a work-at-home feature is provided.
In the work-at-home feature, a special service key actuation at an originating station triggers AIN recognition. A service switching point (SSP) central office then suspends the call and queries an integrated service control point (ISCP) to determine which business line the originating line corresponds to. Based on the identified business line, the ISCP retrieves processing data for completing the call or providing other area-wide centrex services as if the service request originated from the business group line.